He said Pentascope was not foisted on NITEL as being alleged in some quarters.

Since Pentascope management of NITEL went awry, there had been shifting of blames by some government officials in the administration of ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Some had blamed el-Rufai for the failure of NITEL. Others criticised the former Vice-President who was then the Chairman of the National Privatization Council (NCP).

But el-Rufai’s book, “Accidental Public Servant,” stirred the hornet’s nest on NITEL which forced Atiku to voice out.

However, in his reaction to the controversy through a statement by his Media Advisor, Mr. Muyiwa Adekeye, the former FCT Minister said the leadership of BPE also neglected its responsibilities in supervising Pentascope management contract.

The statement said: “On Pentascope, we see the same pattern of muddying the waters with falsehood. As chairman of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP), Atiku gave his approval in writing on February 21, 2003 for the management contract with Pentascope to be signed. The memo on which Atiku minuted his approval, is dated 20th February 2003, and was initiated by the director of BPE that was covering the DG’s duties at the time.

“By the virtue of the high office he then held, Atiku knows that Pentascope was not foisted on NITEL but emerged from a properly advertised and competitive selection process.

“After the failure of the first attempt to sell NITEL, it had been decided that there was need for a management contractor to keep the momentum of preparing the company to operate like a private entity and to preserve its assets. Pentascope resumed in NITEL on April 28 2003, shortly before El Rufai left the BPE to become a minister.

“The Pentascope contract terms included obligations by the BPE to monitor the contract, and for the NITEL Board to set up an Executive Committee to supervise day to day operations in NITEL.

“Between the new BPE leadership that neglected its responsibilities, the NCP which Atiku chaired and which failed to supervise the BPE and the bureaucrats and politicians around the Ministry of Communications, the management contract was frustrated and terminated in 2005.

“When a former vice-president asserts that NITEL was making N100 billion in profit annually, the mind must boggle that someone so unconstrained by fidelity to facts had once been saddled with significant responsibilities. NITEL never made such profits.

“NITEL had never paid a single dividend to the FGN until the BPE forced it to pay N3billion in 2001! While the politicians and bureaucrats were fighting to reclaim ministerial control of NITEL (and the inflated equipment contracts that came with it), the company was fast losing market share to the new kids on the block, the GSM companies that understood how to create and sustain value.

“It is to be hoped that Atiku will respond to the other matters concerning him in the book, but this time he must ensure that facts trump the braggadocio.”

But the former Vice President has again dismissed those allegation.

He said they are not new. In a statement by his Media Office, Atiku said: “The interesting thing is that those spreading these allegations couldn’t come forward with any iota of proof against me. I was also accused of selling African Petroleum to myself, using a front. However, when the facts eventually emerged in respect of this particular allegation, my traducers were disarmed and were forced to retreat. Indeed, I was the most investigated public office holder under the former administration and, if this allegation was valid, it could have been conveniently used to bring me down and tarnish my name. Thank God I survived this smear campaign, just like others before it.

“The Senate conducted a public hearing on privatisation under my leadership as the chairman of the National Council on Privatisation. That was the best opportunity for those accusing me of selling public assets to myself to come forward to prove the allegation. Surprisingly, they never did because they relied mainly on hearsay. A cabinet member in Obasanjo’s government, who was promoting this idle rumour, was eventually left looking small because he didn’t have the facts to substantiate his allegations against me.

“On Pentascope, people should direct the questions to El-Rufai himself. The Pentascope scandal was one of the issues investigated by the National Assembly and it accused El-Rufai of ignoring wise counsel by imposing the company on NITEL.”

EL RUFAI, A DIRECTOR IN NITEL, ONE YORUBA GENTLEMAN, FACED YOU AT THE HEARING ON NITEL/PENTASCOPE BEFORE THE HOUSE OF REPS, STATED THAT HE ADVISED YOU THAT PENTASCOPE WAS VERY UNQUALIFIED TO BE HANDED OVER NITEL, YOU NOT ONLY IGNORED HIM BUT YOU SACKED HIM AS WELL.

REVELATIONS FROM THAT HEARING EQUALLY INDICATED THAT PENTASCOPE WAS INCORPORATED ON A SUNDAY AND ITS HEAD OFFICE IN EUROPE WAS A CHURCH.

IT IS BAFFLING THAT YOU “OMITTED” THE ISSUE ON PENTASCOPE IN YOUR BOOK.

balogun omo-obe

Despite the pentascope blunder el rufai was promoted to a minister which is evident he must hav been massively used by d power that be to corner our commonwealth. This man had never struck me a good person since she hired a lady who he paid stupendous salary in forex for doin next to nothin . He shoul not be given any leadin role in Apc if d party wish to be taken seriously by the masses.